


Road Runner

by costumejail



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Animals, First Aid, Gen, Gift Fic, Minor Injuries, Somewhat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27306685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costumejail/pseuds/costumejail
Summary: Jet Star finds an animal in need
Comments: 14
Kudos: 14





	Road Runner

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift for [@jackjackjackjackjackjack](https://jackjackjackjackjackjack.tumblr.com/) for the Halloween Gift exchange! Hope you like it!

Jet Star nearly hit the coyote with how suddenly it ran in front of their bike. They braked hard, swerving to avoid it and ended up sliding out, skidding across the sand until they came to a stop, thankful for the thick denim of their jeans protecting them from road rash.

The coyote hadn’t moved, staring at them from the middle of the road with a pup hanging from its mouth by their scruff. The… mother, Jet supposed, dropped her pup and panted, but didn’t seem overly perturbed by the killjoy that had nearly turned them both into roadkill.

“Uh, hi?”

Predictably, the coyote didn’t respond, though she took a step closer to Jet.

That’s when they noticed she was limping, one paw barely grazing the sand as she tried to get closer to Jet. Jet got up slowly, not wanting to startle the animal that for all they knew could be vicious, but knowing that they needed to get back to the diner before it was too dark out.

“Hi, mama. I’m just gonna go around you.” For some reason, Jet thought that talking to the animal would keep it calm long enough for them to get back to their bike. “I’ve got places to be, and I’m sure you do too, so if I could just—”

The coyote stumbled forward again, its pup following closely at its heels. Jet froze, and the coyote came closer, stopping right at Jet’s feet and looking up at them almost expectantly.

“What?”

The coyote yipped. It sat. Jet went to take a step back and the coyote growled, reaching for them with her uninjured paw.

“I don’t— What do you want, _Princesa?_ ‘M not a doctor, certainly not one for—” Jet stumbled, foot catching on a loose rock and sending them to the ground.

Instantly, the pup jumped at them, climbing up to their chest and sniffing at their face. The mother growled again, lunging forward and Jet raised their hands quickly, trying to at least keep her away from their face. The coyote was practically on top of them, a musky smell filling Jet’s nostrils. They closed their eyes, prepared to feel teeth and claws as the mother protected her pup.

None came. The pup’s weight lifted off of Jet’s chest and they cracked one eye open. The mother set the pup down, nipping at its ear, then sat, still looking at Jet intently.

Slowly, Jet sat up. The coyote was nearly eye-to-eye with them, and they could’ve sworn that coyotes weren’t supposed to be that big. Still, the animal didn’t make any threatening moves toward Jet. In fact, she pawed at them slowly and yipped, right against their ear.

“What’s—?” Jet looked down and saw a smear of blood on their thigh, right where the coyote had touched them. “Oh! You okay, mama?”

In the fading light, it was hard to tell, but Jet could see something sticking out of the mother’s paw. They squinted, bringing their face way closer to her foot than was smart, considering it was a wild animal, and recognized the object as a nail, stuck all the way through her paw.

“Aw, sweetheart, have a clap with an abandoned building or something? Probably not very comfortable, huh?”

He coyote didn’t reply, again, obviously, but she whined when Jet ever-so-gently took her paw in their hand. The pup crawled up onto Jet’s lap, busying itself with attacking the hem of their shirt as they cautiously probed at the injury.

“Think you missed the bones,” Jet informed the animal that didn’t understand their words. “So it should go easy if I just pu—”

The coyote growled, nipping at Jet’s hand as they brushed the nail with their fingers. Urgently, Jet wrenched their hand back. Pain flared up their arm as the coyote dug her teeth in, not willing to let go of Jet. They froze, swearing, and the coyote looked up at them cautiously. 

“Y’can’t run in front of me and ask for help then get mad at me, okay?”

After a minute, the coyote let go of Jet’s hand. Deep red marks showed where she had gripped Jet’s hand, and as they looked closer, blood started welling from one of the indents. It didn’t hurt much, yet, and Jet figured the coyote wouldn’t let them go until they’d helped her so they shook their hand out and tried again. When they slowly reached for her paw again, the coyote growled lightly, but she let Jet take her paw again. As soon as they had a good grip on it, Jet grabbed the nail and pulled it out. The coyote screamed, tugging her paw from Jet’s grip and swiping at them with her uninjured paw. Thankfully, her claws glanced off of Jet’s jacket, leaving them unharmed.

Through all of this, the pup remained unbothered, it had given up on Jet’s hem at some point (though it was now dotted with small bite marks) and curled up on their lap, asleep.

The mother stood a few feet away from Jet, all four paws back on the ground and looking no worse for wear. She edged forward again, not quite growling, but making it clear that their shaky truce had ended now that the nail was gone.

“You gonna get mad at me if I touch your baby? I get it, I got a kid, too, and I don’t like strangers getting close t’her, but yours is on my lap, so I gotta get ‘em off somehow.” 

Jet lightly prodded the pup with a finger, it blinked awake and yawned widely. The thought that the Girl would have loved this crossed Jet’s mind before they realized she probably would’ve tried to hug the mother or something. Gently, Jet lifted the pup up from their lap and set it on the sand. It snapped playfully at their hand before the mother surged forward to pick it up in her mouth. 

“Okay, mama. You good? Am I free t’ go?”

Before Jet had even finished their sentence, the mother turned and ran off into the sunset. They sat for a minute, marvelling at the experience and realizing that no one would believe them.

Their radio beeped a few feet away, strapped to the side of their bike. Shaking their head, Jet shuffled over to answer it.

“Jet Star, Kobra Kid, Jet Star.”

“Hey, Kobes.”

“Where are you? Pois’s gettin’ antsy.”

Jet rolled their eyes, the entire encounter had taken less than ten minutes. “I’m on my way, tell Party to take a chill p— relax.”

“Tell him yourself, I don’t want him snapping at me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be home soon.”

The Kobra Kid signed off. Jet replaced their radio in its holder and righted their bike, swinging a leg over it as they revved the engine.

As Jet shot toward the diner, they could’ve sworn they heard a coyote howling over the roar of their engine.


End file.
